Distributing apparatus for bituminous and like material



March 20, 1945. ETNYRE 2,372,065

DISTRIBUTINGYAPPARATUS FOR BITUMINOUS AND LIKE MATERIAL Filed Aug. 1, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 "Prom: E 5.

March 20,1945. G. M. ETNYRE 2,372,065

DISTRIBUTING APPARATUS FOR BITUMINOUS AND LIKE MATERIAL Filed Aug. 1, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 44 2 2 1 .51 UK l I an) 0- 2 47 9 49 Patented Mar. 20, 1945 DISTRIBUTING APPARATUS FOR BITUML,

NOUS ANDLIKE M TERIAL M George M. Etnyre, Oregon, 111., assignor to E. D.

nois

Etnyre Co., regon, 111., a corporation of I lli- Application August 1, 1940; Serial No. 349,218

2 Claims. 1. 59 434) The invention relates to apparatus for distrib uting such bituminous and like materials as asphalt, road-oil, tar and emulsion employed in road construction and maintenance, and more particularly to improvements in the apparatus disclosed inmy copending application Serial No. 185,033, filed January 14, 1938, now Patent No. 2,346,478, issued April 11, 1944.

A general object of the invention is to provide a new and improved distributing apparatus for applying material of this nature toroad or like surfaces efiectively and which embodies novel relationships of elements for adapting the apparatus to meet diifering operating as well as idle conditions.

Another object is to provide new and improved means for efiectively draining and clearing; the distributing system of residual material without waste.

In conjunction with the foregoing, an object is to provide a novel system. in which the pump may be connected to draw-residual material from the system, all parts of the system beyond thepoints of the connection tothe above such points.

Other objects and advantages wil1'.become apparent in the following description and from. the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary View showing in side elevation distributing apparatus embodying the features of the invention.

Fig. 2 isa fragmentary view looking toward the rear of the apparatus, parts thereof being shown in section.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale taken as indicated by the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view transversely through thedistributor means in operative position. Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 showing-the distributor means in inverted position.

,Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view taken substantially along the line 6-6 of Fig. 7.

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic view looking toward the rear side of the distributor means in the oper ative position thereof.

Fig. 8 is a similar view but showing the dis tributor means in inverted position.

Fig. 9 is a similar view showing the distributor means in idle traveling position.

Fig. 10 is a diagrammatic plan view of the distributor means illustrating movement of an end section thereof to clear an obstacle.

While the invention is susceptible of various modioations and alternative constructions, I have shown in the drawings and will herein describe in detail, the preferred embodiment, but it is to pump being elevated" beu'nderstood that I-do not thereby intend to limit the invention-to the specific form disclosed,

but intend to cover all modifications and alterna- I :tiveconstructions falling within the spirit and scope of the invention-as expressed in the appendedficlaim s. j

Since'systems embodying the resent invention may be used without substantial modifications in conjunction withvariou's types of supply tanks.

truck chassis, and control apparatus, it has not been deemed necessary herein to illustrate or describe fully such correlated mechanisms.

'Inthedrawingsf the numeral designates a supply tank or reservoir which may be of conventional form supported upon a truck chassis or the like. The chassis may include a rearwardly extending'frame illustrated;fnagmentarily at 2| for supporting lcertain parts of the distributor system. Near itsrearend the lower, side'of the tank has a valve casing 22 rigidly secured thereto .and communicating with the interior of the supply tank. A valve, housed withinthe valve casing and manipulated by the lever 23, controls the flow of material fromthe tank. On the otherside of the valveoasing' the flowpassagc therein communicates with the, intake side of a suitable force pump (notshown) which preferably Ii's a gear ump housed within a pump cas- ,-;,mg '24. A conduit 25 communicates with the downwardly opening pressure sideof the pump and leads rearwardly, therefrom to communicatewith 18, transverse header 26. ,At theends of the header are valve casings 21 housing valves (not show n), having operatingstems 28 engageable by V supply conduits 30 ,and each supply conduit 30 control shafts 29 shown only in Fig. 1. These valves controlthe flow of fluid material from the header 26 to supply conduits 30 and also to a return line 3| which is connected to an upstanding conduit 32 opening into the supply tank.

For a more particular description of the valves inthe valve casings 21 and their'function, reference may be had to mycopending application aforesaid. The, present structure embodies. two

adjacentto the valve casing 21 includes a connection designated 33 permitting, movement .of the conduit about a vertical axis. From this connection the conduit extends outwardly in a I direction transverse to the longitudinal line of the; assembly (sidewise of the truck) to a rearwardly extending .elbow 34 that communicates through a ball and socket joint35 with a rearwardly extendingoonduit section 36 which connects through another ball andv socket joint 31- with an elbow fitting 38. (Figs. 1 and 3).

' supply conduits together in definitely alined relation.

As shown in Fig. 3, the outwardly facing flange section 39 is internally flared as at42 (Fig. 3) to receive the complementally tapered nose portion 43 of a distributor bar connecter fitting 44. The means, by which the elbow section'3'9 and the connecter fitting 44 are secured together, is of a type which permits of relative rotational movement of the connecter fitting. Thus, an out-v standing flange 45 on the connecter fitting adjacent to the nose portion 43 thereof is in assembly disposed in slightly spaced relation to the end face of the flange-section 39 for engagement by an annular flange 46 on a nut 41 engaging the external screw. threads on the flange section 39. Preferably, a type of split nut having adjusting screws 43 is employed to. maintain a relationship between the connected parts that will. be fluid-tight yet. permitthe connecter fitting to rotate relative to the. flange section 39.

.As may be seen in Fig. 7, the meansv by which the fluid material is distributed uniformly over an underlying road. surface is composed. of severalsections. As shown, the distributor means, or the distributor bar as a whole,.comprlses two central sections49 and two end sections 50.v Each section has a plurality of spray nozzles; 5i extending. in alined longitudinally spaced relation along one side thereof. This side in operation is the length to be removed and replaced by another end of diflerent length.

This distributor bar is preferably mounted for adjustment to different vertical levels as well as transversely or lengthwise of the bar. Thus, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the distributor bar and the supply conduits leading thereto from the ball and socket joints" are supported by swinging frames generally designated 6i having substantially universal movement. Depending from each side of the frame 2| is a bracket 62 supporting a transversely extending rod 63. Pivotally mount- I ed on each end of the rod is a link,64 which extends outwardly and downwardly and carries an outwardly extending stud 65. The stud pivotally supports 'a frame section 85a having vertically spaced bearings 66 thereon. Straddling the bearings 65' and pivotally supported thereby are spaced. ears 8'! on an end of the swinging frame 6!. The axes of these pivotal connectionsare located substantially on the transverse plane that includes the center of movement of the ball and socket joint 35. The frame extends rearwardly from these pivotal connections and at its other lower side of the barsectionsh Each of the. cen-,

tral and end sections 43 and 50 have inclined. upper surfaces 50 so that the material in these' sections will drain back into the connecter fittings 44 when the distributor bar is inverted. One. end .of each section is closed and. the other end has an annular flange 52 extending outwardly from the side thereof opposite to the spray nozzles. Each connecter fitting 44 has. a. pair of axially spaced annular flanges 53 extending therefrom in parallelism for connection with the flanges 52 on the distributor bar sections. connection with the central bar sections 43 is a rigid one and is obtained in any suitable manner as by providing a collar 54 on the end of the flange 52 of the central section 49 through which securing screws 55 extend into engagement with enlarged margins of the flange 53. The central sections extend toward each other from their connections with the connecter fittings 44 and are preferably enclosed within a protective shroud 56.

The end sections 50 aresecured to the connecter fittings 44 for rotational movement about the axes of the flanges 52, 53', which axes are substantially perpendicular to the rotational axes of the connecter fittings 44 to the elbow fittings 38. To this end, each end section flange 52 has a collar 51* secured thereto for abutting engagement with the end face of the connecter fitting flange 53 and the collars 51 have an annular rib 58 engageable by a gland nut 59 screw threaded onto the end of the flange 53. To enable the operator to vary the overall length of the distributor bar, each end section may itself be divided into sections and such sections provided with quickly detachable securing means indi cated generally at 50 permitting an end of one This end has spaced cars 68 which pivotally support between them by a stud N a block 69 having arms 10 (Figs. 2 and 3) extending inwardly from the elbow fitting 38.

The means by which the swinging frame BI is shifted transversely. is not herein shown. Vertiarm 15 on the rock shaft is connected by linkage l6, 1'! with the frame section 55*, the arrangement being suchthat movement of the rock shaft in one direction or the other will shift the swinging frame 6! about the pivots 53, E5 to raise or lower-the distributor bar.

As shown clearly in Figs. 1 and 2, the supply conduits 30 and the distributor bar, including the sections 36 and the various connections, are upwardly, inclined from the connections 33 so that the latter form sumps into which residual material may drain. Means is provided for insuring that this upwardly inclined relationship will be present in any vertical position of adjustment of the distributor bar. In the present instancathis means is in the form of a quadrant '13 associated with the operators handle 74 and so arranged with respect thereto that one end of the quadrant, designated 79, forms a stop for limiting the downward swinging movement of the frame. In the present instance, the lowermost positionis substantially limited to one in which the line between the centers of the ball and socket joints 35 and 3? falls along the line designated 8!) (Fig.1).

The highest maximum movement of the frame is designated by the line 3i.

During the distributing operation, the distributor bar as a whole extends downwardly from the elbow fittings 38, movement to this position being permitted by rotation of the connecter fittings 44 relative to the fittings'38. This position of the distributor bar is shown in Figs. 4 and 7. To drain the distributor bar, it is swung upwardly to an inverted position in which, as shown in Fig. 5, the distributor bar is above its axis of rotation. This swinging movement may be effected. in any suitable manner as by an operating link 82 (Figs. 1 and 4) pivotally connected to an ear 33 on one of the central bar sections and an operating lever 84.

Such means as a chain 85, connected to the lever 84 and arranged for engagement along its any position above the'depending position'shown in Fig. 4. If desired, a stop lug 86 may be secured to the link 82 for engagement with one of the elbow connecters 38. The lug is arranged to prevent the link 82 from swinging into engagement with the connecter elbow when the distributor is released to swing downwardly, whichengagement, unless prevented, might bend the link. The engagement of the lug 86 with the connector elbow acts in conjunction with the link 82 to restrain the distributor bar against incidental swinging movement.

In its inverted position, all of the residual material in the distributor and in the supply conduits leading thereto is above the points of connection of the supply conduit 30 with the sumpforming connections 33 and the material will, 90

therefore, drain toward these points by gravity. Preferably, means is .provided for withdrawing material from the low points of'the connections 33 and discharging it into the tank.- Thus, the

valve casing 22 is provided with a filling conduit 5 81 through which, by a proper arrangement of the valves in the valve casings 22 and 21, material from an outside source maybe drawn through the filling conduit 81 and pumped into 81 and a valve in the casing. (not shown), having 35 an operating stem 89, is arranged to establish communication between the filling conduit and a pair of pipe lines 90. Each of these lines leads v to one of the connections 33 and opens near the bottom thereof. When the system is set as above 40 described to fill the supply tank, but with the filling conduit 81 capped and the valve in the valve case set to connect the lines 90 with the, filling conduit, the pump will draw all of the residual material out of the distributor bar and. the supply conduits leading thereto and return such material to the supply tank. Thus, the operator, by merely inverting the distributor bar,

bar is in its depending operative position, as shown in Fig. 10, the axes on which the end sections are mounted are vertical. This arrangement permits either end section to swing, rearwardly to clear any obstacle 9| that it may encounter during movement of the apparatus along the road. Swinging movement in a return direction may be effected in any suitable manner as by elevating the distributor bar slightly so that. 19 an unalined end section will swing back by gravity or by spring means (not shown). The

return movement is limited by such means as stop I fingers 92 carried by the end sections for engagement with a part of the adjacent central 15 section.

rotational adjustment about the axis of the bar,

and swinging movement of the end sections about axes perpendicular to the main section is not claimed in the present application, such subject matter being disclosed and claimed in my copending application Ser. No. 541,418, filed June 21, 1944.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a distributing system of the. character described, the combination of a pump having a suction inlet side and a pressure outlet side, a distributor bar, supply conduits connecting said 30 distributor bar with the outlet side of said pump and including flexible connections permitting said distributor ,bar to be adjusted to different vertical levels, return conduits connected with the supply conduits at a point remote from said distributor bar and leading to the intake side ofsaid pump, and means for shifting said dis- ,tributor bar to different vertical levels including means for limiting the lowermost'level of said distributor bar to a plane in which said bar and the supply conduits between said bar and the connection of the supply and return conduits are above said connection. v

2. Ina distributing system of the character described, the combination of a distributor bar, means for supplying material under pressure to said distributor bar, means for supporting said distributor bar for adjustment to different vertical levels with respect to the material supply can efiectively clean the system without wasting 50 means, and) means for limiting the lowermost the material.

As has been mentioned, the end sections 50 of the distributor bar are rotatable with respect to the connector fitting 44. When the distributor GEORGE M. ETNYRE. 

